Apple
Global Product Launch
- Apple Watch Series 2
Working on the Interactive Retail Team, I was the lead writer for the Apple Watch Series 2 launch, responsible for the product pages themselves and the accessories for the Apple Online Store. Accessories product pages for the iPhone X and iPhone 8 launch. With an ecosystem as large as Apple's, there's a lot more to prepare for than just the device itself. I was ultimately responsible for all the customer facing copy for products like Apple cases, cables, docks, and 3rd party wireless chargers. More important than the words themselves were the strategy and rationale behind every decision. While writing was my focus, understanding the nuances of an undertaking this large and being able to keep on top of a thousand moving pieces proved to be just as, if not more vital to the success of the launch.
Updating the old to bring in the new.
The first thing I looked at were the existing accessories pages that would need updating for this launch cycle. While the accessories themselves weren't changing aside from new colours, how the product pages worked and what the copy had to accomplish did.
A big change in this release was using one purchase page to sell one product, compatible with 2 completely different iPhones. Figuring out what to title these pages wasn't as simple as it looks, as these titles would be used through the site in searches, recommendations, and product listings. There were also design and engineering, character limits, colour options, text wrapping, and SEO considerations to factor in as to how the name would be displayed. Ultimately I netted out with a solution everyone could get behind, and that worked across all use cases, including when translated into other, longer languages.
The product pages for the leather and silicone cases were already written for the previous iPhone 7 release. The cases themselves, beyond new colours, were not changing. As the copy has already been approved and live, I wasn't looking to make major changes, but having multi product compatibility and an iPhone with new features led to more than just adding "iPhone 8" to the compatibility list. Some of the new features were highlighted to create value and extend the benefit of the accessories. I worked with the product department to determine messaging hierarchy and vetted and approved all messaging through legal prior to launch.
Copy decks were handed off with every change noted with clear specific instructions for the developers, so they could quickly implement changes and know what's changed.
A new iPhone calls for new accessories.
A new line of leather, silicone, and Folio cases were released alongside the iPhone X. I was responsible for crafting copy for these new phone cases, keeping the Apple tone of of voice consistent with existing pages, while communicating the new features and benefits in a clear, simple manner.
One of the bigger features of this launch was the introduction of wireless charging, bringing 2 new third party chargers to the Apple Store. One from Belkin, and one from Mophie. While supplied with a copy outline about these products, I had to rework the copy to fit into the Apple Store page design, while adhering to both the Apple and Belkin/Mophie brand guidelines, and finding the right tone of voice. There were also confidential details about the iPhone that the the 3rd parties were not privy to, and it was my job to integrate those specifics into the product pages. One challenge with this was that the 2 chargers had feature parity and really only different in colour. I had to effectively communicate very similar information across these products while still making each one feel unique on its own.
An SEO for every search
I worked with the SEO team to align on our strategy and to write the SEO copy for the new iPhone models as well as for iPhone leather, silicone, and folio cases for each model.
Key to this was developing an SEO structure that fell within character limits for the longest possible use cases. This allowed us to create variables and get super granular with the SEO to cover searches for specific model, capacity, colour, and carrier. Because of the cadence of the launch, I versioned the SEO into three phases to ensure proper messaging for the right time. Once the iPhones were announced, the messaging was to learn more and directed to the main iPhone site. Once pre-order went live, the messaging shifted to pre-order and directed to the iPhone purchase flow. Once available, the search results took you to the last step of the purchase flow, where the iPhone is already pre-configured based on your search criteria.
Another challenge came up when writing the SEO for the iPhone X - marketed with a visual X, but pronounced iPhone "Ten". To solve for this, I simply spelled out the word ten in all iPhone X SEO descriptions, but used the X monikor in the title to cover both scenarios.
Another fun challenge was figuring out the right SEO approach for iPhone cases. While coloured in shades such as "Midnight Blue" and "Ultra Violet", I didn't think that's what people would be searching for. For the SEO descriptions, I took the commonly accepted names of colours that people would be using for their search and guided customers towards the right product.
